Christmas Cards

Every year in November, it's become a tradition that we take family pictures for a Christmas Card. In past years, we've gone all out; and as you can imagine, it gets pretty expensive (the photographer, the pictures, the cards, the outfits, the haircuts, the postage...it all just begins to add up). However, this year we're on a tight budget now that I stay home. I've also become "Budget Nazi" and had all but given up on the idea that we would do a card this year. But I think Ernie could see that this made me sad, so he put his foot down and said, "We're doing them." He said it didn't matter if we had them made and only send out 10 cards, but we should still send them out because (and this is what got me), "It's Fisher's 1st Christmas." And so, the search began for a photographer. Imagine my excitement when I found that our good friend and photgrapher Christi Santangelo (you can find her on FB @ Santangelo Photography) was having a Christmas Special and conducting mini sessions that included 25 cards! I later found another great deal from Shutterfly that included 50 free cards if I write a blog about Christmas Cards, hence me writing this blog! ;) This whole experience of staying home/cutting back on our budget has definately been a challenge, but it's also helped me to become more creative in doing the things we love without going overboard with our spending. :)

Oh, and did I mention how much I love Shutterfly!? ;) Here's some of our Christmas Cards from years past that we've done with them: